She is Mine
by wurlocke
Summary: [Chapter 10 added] Post-Butterflied. Some people are obsessed by love. Sara and Grissom find out just how far obsessions can be taken ...
1. Chapter I

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

CHAPTER I

Grissom's words followed Vincent Lurie away from the interrogation room. Yes, he had loved Debbie with his whole heart. He had given her all of him and what did she do? She left him and took everything away, leaving him with absolutely nothing. He knew that if she had just stayed with him, she would have had everything. But now, he couldn't show her anymore.

Lurie followed his attorney, Adam Matthews, through the corridors of the Police Department. He had been lucky to get such a good lawyer. Hell, he was extremely lucky to get a 'Get out of Jail' card. He had simply lost his temper ... love could make a man do that, right? He was stricken by shock and guilt after what he'd done to Debbie. It didn't matter that he'd killed Michael. That bastard stole Debbie from him and he was glad he had taken him out.

Adam was talking to him and he felt guilty that he wasn't listening. He turned to the younger man, trying to digest what he was saying when something caught his eye.

"It couldn't be!" His brain registered the expression. Debbie was dead. Why is she here? Questions ran through his brain as he saw Debbie emerge from another hallway and walk slowly towards the exit doors. His heart leapt at the sight of her.

Yes, it was Debbie, although she looked a bit different. She wore her hair different today. Her clothes weren't the usual shape-hugging type that drove him wild with desire. Yes, his Debbie-infested mind rejoiced at the sight of her.

"Debbie?" Lurie murmured. The name sounded more like a question of disbelief.

"No, Vincent." Adam interrupted into his thoughts. "Debbie is dead. You killed her remember?" he said, the latter was spoken in a hushed voice.

"No, she's right there," Lurie said pointing to the Debbie's walking form.

"That," Adam said, his voice contained caution, "is not Debbie. She is Sara Sidle of the Crime Lab."

"Sara?" Lurie looked at him, confusion filled his yes. "Not Debbie? She looks just like Debbie. How could anyone look so much like Debbie?"

"Lurie, I suggest you stop this line of thinking immediately. You have received the greatest luck of walking away from two murder charges, getting all riled about this girl, and a CSI for that matter, is just suicide."

He knew that Adam was right, but he couldn't just let it go. Not when he had another chance of showing Debbie, or Sara as she is known, that he truly loved her.

He turned to look at Sara again but found her nowhere in sight. He felt an ache deep in his heart. He needed to see Debbie Sara again. He simply couldn't live without her now.

He was about to go and look for he when he saw Grissom walk in from the direction of their earlier meeting. He saw the look the other man gave him. Despite almost losing his freedom through this man, he couldn't help but pity him. He pitied him for not taking the chance to allow himself to be loved by whoever Grissom was talking about.

Vincent Lurie was glad he wasn't afraid of love and he was going to show Sara just how much love he had for her.


	2. Chapter II

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

CHAPTER II

She felt numb. She hadn't felt this numb in years. She felt like Grissom stood before her and gave her the strongest slap any person could give another.

Turning away from the two-way mirror and away from Grissom's bowed figure, she walked out of the room barely registering Brass' surprised greeting upon encountering her outside the interrogation room.

Walking painfully slow out of the station, she couldn't remember just how long it took, nor the route she took to get to her car. But here she was, staring into space, hands gripping the steering wheel like it was her life.

She had not expected to hear what she just heard in there. She had come to witness the interrogation unbeknownst to the occupants of the other room just to observe Lurie and maybe even Grissom. She wanted to see why he had been distant during the whole case.

"Distant!" Sara scoffed at herself. There's an understatement. For the past months they had shared little to no conversation apart from case discussions.

She remembered the look that he had on his face the night of the crime though. She was standing with the others outside of Debbie Marlin's house waiting for him to emerge and pass out assignments.

She felt his eyes on her, or at least she thought she did. Turning around, she saw him looking at her intensely. There was something in his eyes that made her shiver internally. But then again, she could have been wrong. For all she knew, he could have been looking at Brass who stood behind her. It surely looked like it considering he spoke to Brass seconds after that.

She had been almost hands-off with the case, being assigned to check the perimeter when they had already gone and did a quick check earlier.

She didn't understand what was going on until she saw Debbie's body in the morgue. She felt shivers running up and down he spine at how much Debbie looked like her. They could have been twins if not for some minor difference in their appearances. For the first time in a long while, Sara actually felt afraid. Of what exactly, she didn't know. Maybe it was just seeing Debbie's face that got to her, but she had been afraid.

Although it relieved her to know that the attraction between Grissom and herself had not been one-sided, it crushed her to hear him say that a relationship with her wasn't worth the risk.

"I wasn't worth the risk," Sara said aloud. The words still sounding alien to her confused brain and ears.

Funny, here I am laying myself in wait day in and out, hoping for the day he'd come to his senses and work things out between us, only to find out I'm not even worth the risk.

One by one, tears started falling down her face. She angrily swept them away, but the more she did so, the stronger they flowed. Finally she broke down, choking on the anger and hurt in her and started sobbing loudly the silence in the car her only companion and her witness.

"I should have known better." Sara told herself, continually brushing her tears away. If the past year had been any indication, she should have gotten the clue, but no, she remained the hopeful fool that she was.

How stupid can one person get? She should have taken that Leave of Absence and had not allowed that stupid plant sway her decision. Who in their right minds would send a plant to girl they liked? But then again, Grissom was no ordinary man. That was why she felt strongly for him the way she did.

Then of course, there was that dinner invitation refusal. That had hurt her more than almost being blown up by the lab explosion. From that moment on, she had been dissecting whether the attraction between them was true or if it were all in her head. Well, that had been answered.

Her heart had leapt when he started talking about second chances back in that interrogation room. Well, she had rejoiced to soon. Nothing compared to the feeling of hearing the end of that confession.

Closure. The word popped into her mind. Suddenly her tears slowed down, falling one tear at the time now. Sara raised her face and looked at herself on the rearview mirror. Wiping the stains her tears had formed on her face, she gathered herself up and got hold of her emotions.

"Not worth the risk, my ass." Sara spoke, anger still lacing her words. "Fine. We're through." Sara convinced herself that from then on, she was going to do all that she could to forget the man that held her heart for the longest time even if it killed her to do so.

Note : Thanks to all of you guys who posted reviews. I was overwhelmed! Really! Thank you so uber much!


	3. Chapter III

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER III

"Hey Gil!" Brass' voice cut through Grissom's thoughts. He had been on the way to his car when he heard his friend calling for him.

"Jim," Grissom stopped in his tracks and turned to the captain.

"Uh..." Brass momentarily fidgeted before continuing, "I don't how to tell you this but while you were in there in the interrogation room with ... uhmm ... a confession of your own, Sara was behind the mirror."

If it had been possible, Grissom's eyes would have surely popped out of their sockets what with the absurd look of shock his face took to Brass' news. Grissom's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

"Yah, she almost ran into me just after Lurie left. She ... uhh... didn't look too good." Brass felt stupid saying that. He couldn't imagine how Sara was feeling at the moment. He would surely feel like shit if he ever heard the person he loved speak of their relationship that way. It still befuddled Brass how Grissom could push the younger CSI away when it was clear as day that they had a thing going on for each other.

Grissom slowly turned around and continued his trek to his vehicle, not responding to Brass' statement that is until he heard his friend calling him again.

"Gil, I ... I don't want to be nosey and all, but I think you need to talk about what happened in there ... with Sara." Jim Brass hoped fervently that Grissom would take his advice.

"Thanks Jim, I'm going to have to think that over and right now, what I need is sleep." Grissom replied, hoping to divert the topic off something so sensitive.

"Oh, right. Catherine told me you've pulled a triple..." Brass let his words trail and an awkward silence fell between them. Unable to bear the silence, Brass broke into it with a "Well, you go along now. Get some rest."

Grissom nodded wordlessly and left his friend standing in the parking lot looking worriedly at him.

Getting into this car feeling strangely detached from all his actions, Grissom took a moment to process Brass' news. Sara had been there. She had been right behind that mirror, listening to every single word he'd said.

A shudder ran through his tired body. He didn't know exactly why he said those words, and to a total stranger for that matter. Was it easier to say it because the man didn't know his history with Sara?

Excuses wouldn't save his skin now. Maybe the reason why he had been brave enough to admit those things to Lurie was because he knew that Sara would never find out. She would never find out how strongly the case had hit him, or how his body shivered every single time he remembered Debbie, or how he didn't go to sleep afraid that he'd be tormented by nightmares of Sara being in Debbie's place.

He had been pushing Sara at arms length that it almost broke him working this case. Many a times he had wanted to go back to the lab, go up to Sara and just hug her as tightly as he could; to thank whatever god looked after him that Sara was still here with him. To stay on his resolve he had avoided any contact with her and worked his triple shift straight.

It had been a long time since he last saw Sara and it gnawed on him that she had to witness his moment of weakness and he couldn't explain what he meant. He wanted to drive up to her apartment and try to explain things but in his current state, he doubted coherence would be on his side.

Sleep deprivation accompanied Grissom on his lonely drive to his townhouse. Climbing down from the car and walking sluggishly up his door barely having the strength to carry all of his things into the living room. Dropping all things just after entering his door, he literally had to drag himself to his bedroom.

He no longer wanted to think. Too many images of Debbie's pale face haunted his waking senses and the uncertainty as to how Sara reacted to his confession bothered him.

He knew that he should be talking to Sara about it, but his body disagreed with him at the moment.

Figuring that he could once again put off the inevitable conversation, Grissom started peeling his clothes off and fell on his bed directly off to sleep. Fatigue had finally caught up with him.

Just like he feared, his dreams were filled with images of Sara blended in with Debbie and the case. Grissom kept on calling out to her but there she stood, with an unreadable expression on her face.

His dream ended with Sara slowly turning and walking away no matter how hard he screamed for her to stay. Sitting up on his bed, feeling totally not rested the first thought that ran through Grissom's mind was, "Don't walk away Sara. Don't walk away."

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A/N : Once again, thank you for the wonderful reviews. I've got to be honest, I'm writing the story as it comes so it's also exciting for me and to get such good reviews, well, it totally makes my day. :D


	4. Chapter IV

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER IV

Sara avoided all possible confrontation with Grissom days after the Marlin case. She rapidly applied for a couple of days off and was thankful that Grissom didn't see the need to ask her for a reason. If Brass mentioned her presence at the Lurie interrogation to Grissom, the latter did not give any indication of the knowledge. Sara was partly grateful about this, though part of her wanted him to acknowledge that she knew about it.

She was still unsure as to how she was going to react about if asked though, so maybe the no discussion of the topic was working for now. She had spent most of her time away from the lab inside her apartment, desperately finding a way to distract herself from her work and Grissom. She remembered that Grissom once told her to find a diversion, something to occupy her attention outside of work ... maybe it was time she listened to his advice.

"Earth to Sara!" Nick's voice interrupted her thoughts. Sara had to literally shake her head and then she turned to look at Nick and mumbled a low "Hmmm?"

"You were miles away ... again." Nick pouted. "You haven't been listening to a word I've said have you?"

"What?" Sara teased Nick some more. She was ashamed to have been caught, but she just couldn't help herself. "I'm sorry Nicky. I've just been a bit preoccupied with things lately."

"Yeah?" Nicky raised an eyebrow looking squarely at Sara. "You've been like this for a while now. You sure everything is alright with you?"

"C'mon, what could possibly be wrong with me?" Sara teased some more, wishing that Nick wouldn't delve too deep into her current state. "Seriously, I'm okay. No need to worry. I'm actually glad I took a couple of days off."

"That is shocking. I can't remember the last time you took a break, let alone enjoy it!" Nick laughed softly and Sara gave him a playful punch on the shoulder for that.

They continued their banter along the lab walking towards the break room. They were about to enter the room when Sara heard her name being called.

"Sidle? Are you Sara Sidle?" a man carrying a huge bouquet of red, red roses asked. Nick gave Sara a surprised, yet amused look and she gave him a totally confused one.

"Ye..yes." Sara stuttered, her brows meeting over her confused eyes.

"Great, I've been all over this place looking for you." the guy shrugged off the bouquet and handed it over to Sara who was still looking at it like it was a piece of alien fragment. "That is for you, and if you please sign here, I'll be on my merry way."

Sara tried to balance the huge bouquet so she could sign the device the delivery man was trying to shove into her hands but she awkwardly shifted the thing from her left arm to her right arm.

"Here, let me sign it for you." Nick offered, a smile playing along his lips. The delivery man gave the device to sign, seconds after he was off walking towards where he came from. That left Nick looking very much amused at each passing second and Sara beyond bewildered.

"Uhhh... " Sara looked up from the bouquet, "You didn't send this, did you Nicky? Another one of your jokes?"

"Hey!" Nick said, raising his hands in mock arrest. "Don't look at me like that. I've stopped flirting with you years ago!"

"Funny, Nick!" Sara sarcastically said. "Who sent these anyway? You think Greg?"

"Greggo? He's had a crush on you forever, Sar," Nick replied now grinning from ear to ear, "But I don't think this is within his budget. This much roses? This has got to be muy expensive."

"Whoa! Who died that we have those for?" Warrick's voice came from behind Sara. Sara whipped her head around and gave Warrick and glaring look. She quickly went into the break room and placed the bouquet on top of the table continually eyeing it like it was a piece of evidence.

Warrick and Nick followed her into the break room and stood on each side of her also looking down on the beautiful bouquet lying on the table.

"Who sent these?" Warrick asked Sara while she shook her head in response, still not able to find her voice.

"Look for the card." Catherine's voice rang from the doorframe. Sara turned to see her leaning casually against it, a hint of a smile on her face.

"What?" Sara asked, feeling utterly dumb at the moment and unsure as to what Catherine meant.

"Look for the card." Catherine moved away from her position to stand with them. "These things generally go with cards or sentiments."

"Oh!" was all Sara could come up with. She softly poked about the roses until she found a small envelope tucked between two of the shorter stems.

She carefully opened the envelope and slid the card out of it. Flipping it over, she saw that only one line was written on it and didn't contain any name from the sender.

"_You came to me like a dream, you held me in reality and will leave me gasping for your loving breath when you are gone..."_

Catherine read the message aloud while Sara felt a shiver run through her. She couldn't quite decide whether it was of excitement or what she felt like fear. She had never received something like this before and the fact that she didn't know who it was from was getting to her quick.

"My, my ... looks like somebody's got an admirer." Nick said jokingly, wriggling his eyebrows at Sara.

"Have you been holding out on us girl?" Warrick laughed along with Nick, not realizing the almost panic that was building inside Sara. "Is this guy the reason you took those days off?"

"I ... " Sara shook her head, her mouth opening and closing in shock. "I ... I spent my days off in my apartment. I hardly left my apartment. I ... I don't know who this is from!"

Catherine eyed Sara carefully and saw that she was confused. She stepped closer to Sara and tried to calm her down. "Hey, hey. Don't panic. Maybe somebody just felt romantic enough to send you these roses, which are absolutely gorgeous if I might add. Maybe somebody is finally starting to notice?" Catherine added the last bit with a knowing look directed at Sara.

"Noooo... it couldn't be! Not after what I heard back in that room!" Sara's thoughts ran amok. She tried to keep a straight face, not answering Catherine's last statement, but she could clearly see that Catherine knew she got a reaction from her.

Despite herself, Sara felt elation fill her at Catherine's suggestion. She was starting to think that it was indeed Grissom who sent her the wonderful roses when she heard his voice behind her.

"Those are really lovely roses Catherine. Who are they from?"

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A/N : suspense sound taaaaaaaaaantaaaaaaaaaaaaantaaaaaaaaaaaaaan/suspense sound Thought it would be nice to end that chapter right there. Once again, thank you for the varied reviews. They've been a great help.


	5. Chapter V

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER V

All heads in the break room stared at Grissom's figure at the doorway. Sara was the first to break away from the group to stand as far away from Grissom as possible. She seated herself on the chair at the other end of the table.

"These ... " Catherine gestured at the bouquet, "are not mine. They were sent for Sara." Catherine looked at Grissom suspiciously, trying to gauge whether he was just bluffing.

"Oh... I'm ... I'm sorry. I thought ..." Grissom stammered, visibly shocked to learn who the owner of the roses was. He looked at Sara who stared back at him her eyebrows knitted tightly.

"How can you assume the flowers are for me?" Catherine interrupted Grissom's apology. "Am I the only woman in this room? And in case you haven't noticed, most of the male population in this lab has a crush on our Sara." Catherine wanted to Grissom squirm. He was an idiot for thinking the roses were hers and an even bigger idiot apologizing the way he was to Sara.

"I know that," Grissom's voice took a deeper timbre on that note. "It's just ... I thought ... Catherine ..."

To say that Sara was angry and disappointed was putting it mildly. One, she was disappointed to learn that it wasn't Grissom who sent the flowers. Her thoughts lashed out saying, "Geeezussss woman! What is wrong with you? Why do you keep on hoping for a miracle?" Two, she felt angry at him for assuming that the roses belonged to Catherine. "What, am I not attractive enough to get roses from the opposite sex now?"

"Save it, Griss!" Sara interrupted his stammering. "We've just come to the conclusion it is impossible to imagine somebody would find it nice to send me flowers, let's just leave it at that. I don't know who sent them but I'm sure whoever it was has a great sense of humor for doing so."

The others felt like that was the end of the discussion for they separated and settled on the chairs around the table leaving the bouquet in front of Grissom who still stood before the table. Everybody tried to ignore its presence but it was like the proverbial elephant in the room.

Grissom cleared his throat and started handing out the shift's assignments. He tried to ignore the roses, but they smelt really good and he wished that he had sent them to Sara himself. He knew he had made Sara angry and he felt disappointed in himself considering that he was really looking forward to her coming back from her break.

x x x x x x x x

"Well, that went well back there, didn't it?" Catherine asked Sara during the trip to their crime scene.

Sara merely shrugged, not really wanting to discuss it anymore. She didn't want to keep remembering that stupid look on Grissom's face upon finding out the roses were hers.

"So you have no idea who they were from?" Catherine prodded on, ignoring Sara's impatient sigh.

"I don't know Cath and frankly I don't care anymore." Sara curtly said, putting her sunglasses on and looked out her window hoping that the conversation would end.

"I'm sorry that Grissom thought the roses were for me." Catherine continued on, seemingly oblivious to Sara's growing discomfort.

"Yeah well, it's not your fault he thinks it's silly someone would send me flowers." Sara muttered beneath her breath.

"You know how he is... " Catherine said, glancing shortly at Sara's profile and receiving a low "yeah..." from Sara. Catherine wasn't ready to drop the subject just yet. "You seem to be over it though. Normally you'd be kicking his ass in an argument by now."

"I guess I'm just tired of arguing with him. It's just going nowhere anyway, this way I save myself a lot of trouble." Sara huffed.

"What's going on?" Catherine slowed the car down and cast Sara another glance. "You've never let him off the hook this quick?"

"I really don't want to talk about it Cath." Sara sighed once again and this time took the time to look at Catherine straight in the eye. "Let's just say I'm over trying to analyze what Grissom does and means."

They spent the rest of the trip in relative silence, discussing what little information they had on the case from time to time. Catherine was still reeling from what Sara said last though. She wondered what Grissom had done this time.

Upon arriving at Dessert Palm, Sara and Catherine quickly asked the receptionist where they could find Mrs. Adler, the victim of their suspicious circs case. They had the chance to talk to the paramedics that brought Mrs. Adler to the hospital and were filled in.

Apparently, the victim's house suddenly caught fire and she was almost trapped inside if the fire fighters didn't save her. Due to second-degree burns, she had to be brought to the hospital while the fire was being put out.

Walking along the hospital's corridors towards Mrs. Adler's room, Sara did not notice the set of eyes that followed her the minute she stepped out of the floor elevator.

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A/N : I just cannot tell you guys how overwhelmed and happy I am with the reviews. My friend and I were discussing how to go about this story earlier and let me tell you we're pretty excited about what we've come up. Let's hope I don't disappoint. :D


	6. Chapter VI

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER VI

Lurie saw an angel, there she was, stepping out of the floor elevator. For a moment, Lurie's world stopped moving. Everything around him became a blur and all he could see was Debbie. He corrected himself mentally and forced himself to recognize her as Sara. Debbie was dead, this was his second chance. Sara now had his love. Debbie had cheated on him, he knew that Sara would not.

Lurie saw Sara walk out of the elevator with a blonde woman who was showing her a piece of paper from a folder she was carrying. Sara had been engrossed in that piece of paper that she missed Lurie's raised hand as he waived at her to grab her attention.

Lurie felt a flash of anger at being ignored but quickly forgave Sara because he knew that she was dedicated to her job. Instead of continuing his round, he walked away from it to follow Sara and her blonde friend with the intent of saying hello.

The past weeks have been hell for Lurie. Ever since the news of Debbie's death and his near arrest, the hospital staff have been giving him strange looks. And if that wasn't enough, his shift had been moved and now he worked nights, away from the friends he once had. Everything changed the day those damned CSI's came and started asking their questions. He loathed every single CSI ... except his Sara. She had done him no wrong and she was just perfect.

Lurie followed Sara and her friend; falling a couple of feet behind their tracks. He was still formulating what to say to her. "Should I ask if she liked the flowers?" Lurie asked himself. It had been a long time since he'd sent a woman flowers. Debbie wasn't one for foreplay. It was now or never for her. For Sara, it might be different. He still wasn't sure what to do or how to go about it.

As he was about to chuck his nervousness aside and finally talk to Sara, he saw somebody approach her and her friend. They quickly exchanged what looked like formalities before Sara's friend walked ahead to stand just outside of hearing range.

Stopping in his tracks, he stared at the guy who was now talking to his Sara. He recognized the man as one of the EMT's who worked at the hospital and had seen him around before. He didn't know what business he had with Sara and that didn't set well with him.

From where Lurie stood, it looked like their conversation wasn't going well. Sara's beautiful face was etched with a frown, her lips were in a tight line. The man was gesturing with his hands and looked like he was apologizing. For what, Lurie didn't know but wanted to find out.

As seconds passed, Lurie noticed Sara's expression getting more and more irritated. He no longer could hold the urge to stand next to her.

x x x x x x x x

Sara could not believe the shift that she was having. From the start of the shift, strange things have just kept happening. First there were those roses. Sure, they were beautiful, but she couldn't just pass it off as something somebody would randomly do. Disappointed as she were to find that it wasn't from anybody she knew, she was more hurt Grissom would just assume they were for Catherine.

Then there was Catherine trying to get her all riled up with the Grissom thing. She had to admit that she was grateful that Catherine at least tried to stand up to her back at the lab, but she really was in no mood to discuss her personal problems. She was just glad that Catherine had decided to let the topic go after her dismissing it back in the car.

And now, here she was trying her best not to slap the man standing in front of her. She was beyond incredulous that this creep would still think she'd want anything to do with him.

"What do you want Hank?" Sara said, her voice cold.

Hank stared at her, his eyes pleading for some understanding that she couldn't give him. "I ... I just wanted to see you. "He started, fumbling with the hem of his uniform. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"What makes you think I'd want to see you?" Sara answered back. "After what happened you still think we'd be what ... friends?"

"Look," Hank gestured with his hands, trying to convey his regret, "I know that I hurt you..."

"No Hank. You lied to me. You cheated on your girlfriend, and you cheated on me." Sara interrupted. "That was more than just hurting me. That was completely destroying any trust I had on you."

Hank went on with more apologies but Sara had already zoned out on him, remembering what had gotten them into this situation.

She was on the rebound; if you'd call that a rebound. She was trying to distract herself from work, but most importantly from Grissom. Hank had certainly displayed interest in her and for the first time in a very long time, she had allowed herself to open up to somebody else. Somebody who she could date.

And when she had finally started to trust him and let him into her life deeper, it all came crashing down.

She felt sick that she had called him endearing names and even acted like a woman involved around him only to find out what a farce he was.

Cheater! She almost lost it when she saw that picture of them in his girlfriend's apartment. She had never felt so betrayed before and she felt like hell.

Sure, she wasn't in love with him, but it surely felt terrible to be cheated on! And to be the other woman? The guy had some nerve coming up to me today and to hope I'd forgotten about the whole thing!

"... I just hope that at some point, you'd be able to forgive me and well..." Hanks voice filtered through her thoughts.

"Stop. I don't know what the hell you want from me Hank, but after that lousy thing you did, there is no way ... no way I'd want anything to do with you again."

Her words stopped Hank in whatever he was trying to convey. Sara stared at him coldy as he opened and closed his mouth, failing to come up with words.

"Sara? You're Sara Sidle right?" A voice broke between Hank and Sara that had her whip her head around to find out who it was from.

A tall figure in a doctor's coat smiled down at her still irritated face.

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A/N : Sorry this took a bit long in coming… work had me swamped these past few days. Thanks to all the reviewers … you guys totally rock!


	7. Chapter VII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER VII

Lurie approached Sara slowly. He didn't want to scare her by coming on too fast. He sawher turn around in confusion and what looked like anger still reflected on her beautiful face.

"Yes, that would be me." Sara warily answered.

Lurie smiled at her and then directed his gaze at the man who now stood beside him. "And you are?" he inquired.

"Hank Peddigrew..." the man answered, his tone a little confused as well.

"And he was just leaving." Sara added without even glancing at the other man.

Lurie looked at Hank who had gone silent and looked almost angry at having been dismissed prematurely.

"Well," Hank stammered, "I'll see you around Sara."

"Not if I can help it." was all she replied. Inside, Lurie rejoiced at the knowledge that whatever happened between these two was now over. "Yes pal, move away. She is mine now." Lurie's mind whispered to him.

It was when Hank was walking away that Sara looked at his retreating figure. Sighing audibly, she turned to the man left standing in front of her.

The man gave her a smile that she didn't know how to interpret but shrugged it off. "I'm sorry about that doctor." She said, apologizing to him.

It pained Lurie that she didn't remember his name, but remembering that they worked for the police department, they must have had names mixed up all the time.

Before Lurie could correct this, he saw Sara's friend rejoin them.

"My name is Sara Sidle, as you already seem to know, and this is Catherine Willows. We're from the Crime Lab. We're here for Mrs. Adler." Sara introduced themselves which left Lurie wondering what she meant about her last statement. That was until her friend, Catherine spoke up.

"How is she holding up?" Catherine asked, her attention fully focused on him.

"Ummm..." Lurie didn't know what to say. He didn't expect to be mistaken for the doctor in-charged of whatever case they were currently working on. He merely wanted to talk to Sara.

"Mrs. Adler, second-degree burns, house caught on fire? We're here to gather whatever evidence she has on her for the case?" Sara spoke again, her eyebrows knitting into another frown.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the doctor in-charged with Mrs. Adler case." Lurie shrugged pathetically hoping that it wouldn't offend Sara.

"Oh," Sara exclaimed and gave Lurie one of those "then what the hell are we doing speaking to each other" look. "How ... how do you know me then? Have we met before?"

"My name is Lurie, Vincent Lurie" He reintroduced himself. "I ... well, this will sound silly, but I saw you during a case you worked on previously."

"Lurie ..." Catherine repeated and her eyes grew wide with recognition.

x x x x x x x x

Catherine's pulse raced upon hering the man's name. It triggered something within her. She knew that name, it was so familiar.

Yes, a case they had worked on a couple of weeks back. She tried putting the name inot the right case then realization hit her.

Lurie. Debbie Marlin. Murdered. Suspect got away by some technicality. What scared Catherine the most during that case was the similarities between Sara and Debbie's appearance.

And now, here was Lurie coming up to Sara in hospital halls. Catherine turned to look at Sara and found her completely frozen beside her.

Catherine had knows that Sara rarely feared anything but the fear very apparent in her eyes now scared Catherine too.

"I have to get her away from here, from this man right now!" Catherine told herself.

Calming herself as much as she can, Catherine grabbed Sara by the elbow, causing the other woman to snap out of her thoughts.

"Dr. Lurie, I'm sorry, but you have to excuse us. We're to work on a case and we really need to be getting to that." Catherine addressed the doctor who stood analyzing Sara's facial expression.

Not waiting for a reply, she steered her still shocked colleague away from the doctor, quickening their pace as she did so.

Catherine made sure that Lurie stayed where they left him before she started talking to Sara again.

"Sar, are you okay?" Catherine asked her friend, a worried look on her face.

"Huh?" Sara answered in a dazed voice. "Ye ... yeah. I ... I guess. I'm just a bit shocked ... confused ... I don't know."

"You recognized that man didn't you?" Catherine already knew the answer, she just felt compelled to ask the question.

Sara merely nodded at this. They both fell silent as they continued to walk now aimlessly through the halls. They now didn't know where they were headed.

It was Sara who broke their wandering by asking directions to their destination. Catherine didn't want to bring up Lurie any longer for fear of what it might to do her friend. For now, they had their jobs to do.

x x x x x x x x

Lurie remained rooted to the spot Sara and Catherine vacated. He was not prepared to have witnessed the fear that crept into Sara's eyes at recognizing who he was.

It hit him then, she still associated him with Debbie's death. She still couldn't look past beyond that and see his love for her. He was overly glad that he had sent those roses anonymously now. He doubted if she'd bothered to receive them otherwise.

Despite the hurt that he felt at her fear of him, Lurie wanted to show Sara that she had nothing to be afraid of. He loved her and he only meant to show her all the great things that being in love brought.

He realized that to get Sara, he needed to gain her trust first. And if he had to do that by being anonymous at this point, then so be it.

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A/N : I realize that this chapter was soooo very late in coming, it's just that work got in the way … plus a couple of consecutive nights playing World of Warcraft. :D

Thanks so much for the continued reviews!


	8. Chapter VIII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER VIII

"Is there something you need to tell me about?" Grissom's voice rang from behind Sara. She had been immersed in analyzing what little trace evidence they got off of Mrs. Adler from the hospital. Sitting alone in the Layout room, she hadn't heard him come up. She momentarily thought of buying him a cow bell to warn people that he was arriving. A smile he didn't see, spread across her face.

"Well, ummm... Catherine has gone to our vic's place while I ... I'm still trying to piece something coherent from the things we got off Mrs. Adler from the hospital." Sara answered his question, not bothering from straightening up from her bent position over the layout table.

"That's not what I meant..." Grissom softly spoke. Sara used to love the way his voice would drop to a mere whisper and just how it sounded. These days though, it did nothing but anger her.

"Well, then just say what it is you do mean." Sara replied, pushing herself away from the table to look squarely at him.

"I heard that you ... encountered somebody at the hospital." Grissom simply said, ignoring the pointed look that Sara was giving him.

Sara visibly tensed up at the mention of the incident. Grissom noticed this and gave her a frown, waiting for her to say something.

"I ... may have said some harsh words to Peddigrew, but I don't necessary believe he didn't deserve it." Sara lied. She knew exactly what he was referring to, she just didn't want to talk about it with anybody, least of all with Grissom.

"Sara ..." Grissom's voice held warning.

"Catherine told you, didn't she?" she asked, a sarcastic snort accompanied her question.

Grissom raised his eyebrow as if in affirmation and contined to stay silent. Sara stared at him, not continuing and hoping that at some point he'd simply drop it.

When at length, Sara realized that he wasn't going to let it go, she sighed and gestured in defeat.

"Fine! What do you want me to say?" Sara's eyes flashed. "That I'm pissed that the minute I forget about the Marlin case, Lurie approaches me out of nowhere? That it made my skin crawl being around him? That I absolutely have no idea how he knows me and that scares the hell out of me?"

"He must have seen you," Grissom interrupted Sara's outburst.

"What?"

"He must have seen you ... sometime during the case." Grissom explained, his words sounding matter-of-factly.

"How could he? I was practically hands-off on that one! You wouldn't even talk to me on the phone." Sara's voice had started to gain volume and she had to mentally remind herself that this was still her boss she was talking to.

"As supervisor, I had my reasons Sara." Grissom pathetically replied.

"Oh yeah, you had your reasons all right." Sara's anger grew.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Grissom asked, his voice now slightly elevated as well.

"I was there Grissom! I heard ... I heard all of it." Sara spoke quickly. Her voice took on a much colder tone. "I cannot believe you ... I just ... you know what? Forget it. I promised myself I'm through with this." Sara flipped her hair angrily and turned her back on Grissom. She pretended like she was studying the things laid out on the table when in fact she was silently praying that he would just walk away and leave her.

"You were not supposed to be there..." Grissom murmured more to himself than to her. It sounded like he was trying to justify the fact that he said all of those things to Lurie.

"Whatever Griss." Sara replied coldly. Deep down she wanted to ask a thousand questions but she told herself that she was not going to do down the route again. "I'm through trying to figure you or your actions out. It's history, so can we just drop it?"

Grissom heard the resignation in her voice and his heart constricted. Despite the fact that he really did not want to argue with Sara, he knew that she never gave up this easily. It made him want to run to her and just hug her and apologize for the stupid things he had said in the past.

Instead, Grissom stared at Sara's head as she resumed working, pretending that he didn't exist.

When Sara heard Grissom's sigh and his retreating footsteps from the room, she heaved her own sigh and dropped her head in her hands. She tried her hardest not to break down right there and then from all the emotions that little confrontation gave her.

That was how Catherine, who had just returned from their crime scene, found Sara.

x x x x x x x x

She hadn't intended to say anything about the whole Lurie encounter to Grissom. But seeing that Sara was visibly upset about it and she knew that she was never going to discuss it; she thought telling Grissom might help.

Catherine didn't know where these two stood these days. It seemed to her and to the rest of the team that Grissom and Sara blew ot and cold.

There were days when one would catch them glancing at each other like they were the only people in the room and then there were days when they could hardly stand being in the same room. The latter was true for the past months. It seemed like they didn't know each other anymore.

Catherine wanted to smack the back of Grissom's head during the break room fiasco earlier. It was bad enough that he mistakenly assumed the roses were hers but to witness such a pathetic excuse for an apology? Geez! Grissom needed lessons!

"Hey," Catherine greeted her colleague causing the other CSI to turn to her and acknowledge her presence.

Her greeting gathered nothing more than just a small grunt from Sara and Catherine immediately knew that Grissom had already approached her. Catherine had to admit that she was very curious as to how that went.

"So, I take it that Grissom's been here?" Catherine asked, standing on one side of the layout table, facing Sara.

"What did you say to him?" Sara replied, her face showing a bit of anger.

"I merely told him that I found it disturbing that Lurie approached you in the hospital..." Catherine defended herself. Of course she left out the part where she told Grissom about how Sara registered fear upon recognizing Lurie.

Catherine saw Sara pout and she continued, "Look, I'm sorry. I was just worried. Doesn't it seem strange to you that you got those roses from someone you don't know that then Lurie walks up to you in the hospital?"

"Don't you think I haven't thought of that? Don't you think I haven't berated myself enough for being so stupid and forgetting to get the name of the florist?" Sara spoke, her voice really irritated now. "Why do you think I stuffed every single rose down the frickin' drain the moment I got back here?"

"You did?" Catherine was shocked that Sara would do such a thing.

"Yes... I did. I may not be sure if it was really from Lurie but I'm not the type who enjoys receiving things from somebody I don't know." Sara lowered her head into her hands again, shaking it seconds after. "I ... I just can't believe the day I'm having!"

"Yeah, tell me about it." Catherine smiled and received a smile back from Sara who lifted her head at her statement. Catherine thought that now would be a good idea to switch topics and so she led the conversation back to their case.

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A/N : Thanks for the patience and the reviews. I'm so glad that you guys found Lurie creepy coz that's exactly how I want him – obsessed and creepy! ;D Thanks so much for the feedbacks!


	9. Chapter IX

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER IX

Sara was grateful for that cup of coffee she had with Nick just before shift earlier. Here she was, trudging through the dark and dirt making sure she didn't miss anything. She had been surprised when she found out that tonight she was working with Grissom.

It had been hard, the past days. She had avoided being alone with Grissom, telling herself that if she was to stop feeling the way she was about Grissom, the first thing she needed to do was spend as less time as she could around him. Despite successfully doing so, she couldn't stop herself from constantly thinking about the guy.

The drive to their crime scene, a long stretch of highway away from the busy lights of the city, had been eerily silent. Grissom kept his eyes focused on the road, while Sara stared at the window. Half of her wanted Grissom to say something, the other part was thankful he didn't bring up their last conversation.

She occasionally stole brief looks at Grissom's profile and wondered what he was thinking. "Is he as uncomfortable with this as I am?" Sara asked herself, fidgeting with the zipper of her forensic jacket.

Several questions ran through Sara's mind -- questions that she really shouldn't be thinking about anymore. She pushed them aside and abandoned her jacket zipper and tried to turn the radio on, hoping for some distraction.

"Do you mind if I turn on the radio?" The question was moot because she was already turning it on while she asked.

Sara noticed that Grissom merely shook his head at her. Turning the tuner knob, Sara disappointedly switched from one radio station to another, only to hear depressing songs being played on the different stations.

Irritated, she sighed loudly and switched the damned thing off.

"Changed your mind?" Grissom smiled at her, catching her off-guard for a moment.

"Depressing songs... makes one think of suicide." Sara replied, giving him one of her reserved smiles. "I hate it when they all play the same kind of songs."

"Suicide, huh?" Grissom commented, his voice not really carrying humor anymore.

"Oh my god! He thinks I've been contemplating suicide!" Sara thought to herself and somehow found it funny. "Yeah, that or it makes people stuff themselves silly with chocolates or junk food."

Grissom laughed softly, sounding relieved that Sara was not serious about the whole suicide remark.

After that small lapse in silence, they reverted back to what they were previously doing. He, concentration on the road, hands steady on the steering wheel and she, staring at nothing but darkness from the passenger window.

"Found anything yet?" Grissom's question startled Sara out of her reverie. She hadn't realized that she had been standing in one spot for a long time while she was thinking back to their earlier ride to the scene.

"Umm... not yet ... just a couple of drag marks, but nothing big yet." Sara distractedly said.

"You okay?" he frowned at her apparent disorientation.

"Yeah ... I'm fine." Sara looked at him shortly and as if to prove her point, lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Receiving nothing but a raised eyebrow from her supervisor, she turned around and continued to hunt for more evidence to catch the whack-job that ran over and hid their victim's body.

x x x x x x x x

He admired the view from afar, enjoying the unnoticed moment.

She bent down, her wonderful legs supporting her slim figure. He had spent countless nights dreaming of those legs. In his dreams, they were wrapped tightly, possessively around him, not letting him go for one single second.

He saw Sara flip her hair to one side as she inspected something closer. The action gave him a great view of her elegant neck. He longed to spread his hands on her neck and feel its smoothness. He longed to entangle his fingers through the mass of her hair. Would they feel as silky as they were in his dreams? Would she close her eyes and moan in pleasure if he massaged her scalp lovingly?

He knew that he shouldn't be doing this here and now. Not when there was a chance that he'd get caught. But the picture presented right in front of him wouldn't let him be. So instead, he continued to watch her, hoping that nobody would notice.

His attention was brought to Sara's lips. Sara's wonderful lips. How many nights have those lips tormented him, keeping him awake, wondering how soft they would feel against his own. He had to stop himself from not caring and approach her to find out how they would feel.

Unconsciously, his tongue peeked out of his mouth to moisten his suddenly dry lips.

"Look, but don't touch?" A voice rang from behind him. He turned away from the vision he was watching to find the smiling face of his friend, Jim Brass.

"Hey Jim." Grissom greeted his friend, slightly annoyed at having been caught staring at Sara.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Jim Brass asked, smiling at the thought of catching Gil Grissom in one of his unguarded moments.

"Talked to whom about what?" Grissom played innocent as best as he could.

"Don't give me that crap." Brass laughed. "How long have we been friends? Don't think you can pull that on me."

Grissom sighed and turned away from Brass to land his eyes back at Sara once again.

"I've been meaning to..." Grissom replied, his words buried under his breath. "I ... I don't know how to go about it though."

"I gotta tell you Gil," Brass stepped closer to his friend, "I'm worried about her. She ... I miss the old Sara."

"What do you mean?" Grissom turned, a confused question in his eyes.

"I miss the smile. I miss the smirk and believe it or not, I miss that pout." Brass laughed softly at the last bit.

Jim Brass heard Grissom let out a long and heavy sigh before hearing him say, "Me too, Jim. Me too."

"Look, I don't profess to know much about relationships, seeing as how my own marriage failed miserably, but" Brass gestured towards the crime scene that was in front of them, "This job? We deal with death more times than a person should see ... I'd hate to see somebody so beautiful fall slowly into it."

Grissom's gaze drifted back to Sara's bent figure. Jim was right and he would be lying if he didn't acknowledge that much. He had noticed how Sara was slowly disappearing right before his, and her colleagues eyes. And he knew that he was mostly to blame for that. He missed the old relationship he had with Sara. He missed the smiles Sara would only give him or that tingling feeling he gave her whenever he would accidentally-on-purpose brush against her. He wondered when and how things got so complicated.

As he thought about an answer to his own question, he realized that things were only as complicated as he allowed it to be. Was it time to throw caution to the wind? Was it time to just find out how good loving Sara would be?

As he looked upon Sara, Grissom once again felt, after a very long time, that here was another shot at living a life worth telling your grandchildren about.

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A/N : Sorry this took forever to be updated. Things are rather going 'loca' at the office. :D

It may also be a 'meh' chapter. Sorry folks, forgive me?


	10. Chapter X

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D

The title may also change.

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CHAPTER X

If the drive to the crime scene was any indication of how things were between him and Sara, the start of the drive back to the lab had been double the intensity.

He was watching her. Sara could actually feel his eyes on her. She had been a little surprised when he took the passenger seat without a word and left her to occupy the driver's seat.

They had spent 15 minutes of silence when Grissom broke the silence and startled Sara from her driving.

"What happened to us?" Grissom's soft spoken question got her to turn to him for a second.

"I ... I don't understand the question." Sara replied, a frown forming on her forehead.

"Us. What happened to our relationship?" Grissom sighed and continued staring intensely at her.

"Did I do something wrong on a case?" Sara's frown deepened. She didn't know where Grissom was going with this and his demeanor shock her.

"I didn't mean our working relationship, Sara."

"Then what other relationship are we talking about?" Sara replied shortly. "It's not as if we're exactly having another relationship outside of work."

"We used to be friends." Grissom simply stated.

"Oh, right. That." Sara bitterly said that made Grissom flinch for a second. "We haven't been friends in a very long time Griss, I think you know that," Sara added sadly, after a short pause.

"I know. I don't know how things have become as they are." Grissom sighed once again, feeling the sadness of the situation.

"We both are to blame for that." Sara commented, staring straight ahead and ignoring the urge to look into his eyes. "Maybe we shouldn't have flirted ... maybe I shouldn't have asked you out ... maybe you shouldn't have given me false hopes. There are a lot of things that maybe we shouldn't have done."

"I didn't mean to hurt you Sara." Grissom only whispered as his reply. "I didn't mean anything like this to happen."

"But you did and it did happen." Sara said, shrugging his apology off. "Sometimes I wonder how I lasted this long in Vegas."

"You ... you aren't thinking about leaving again, are you?" His question was laced with genuine concern that Sara was forced to take her eyes off the road and cast him a look.

"I was serious about the last time I thought about that leave of absence, Griss. I have no one here, except all the guys at the lab who I care for deeply. I really do, but they aren't the ones keeping me in Vegas."

"Who's keeping you in Vegas?" Grissom asked, his voice wavered a little.

Sara slowed the car down significantly and looked him in the eyes, a smile playing on her lips, "Are you sure you're ready to open that can of worms?"

Grissom nodded and smirked. Frankly, he didn't know if he was really ready to continue on with the conversation. He didn't even realize that he had spoken his first question out loud. Despite the seriousness of the topic, he found that there was still hope for him yet. He was indescribably glad that Sara was still willing to talk to him about their relationship and he just couldn't help but think positively.

They spent what's left of their trip back to the lab in silence, although the air in the car had become comfortable.

x x x x x x x x

"Hey Sara, hello Mr. Grissom." Judy, the Crime Lab receptionist greeted them both as soon as they entered the premises. Grissom nodded in acknowledgement while Sara gave Judy a small wave of her hand. "Ahhhmm, this came for you about two hours ago."

Sara excused herself from Grissom's side to come and stand opposite Judy on her desk, while the other woman brought out a small jewelry box with a single red bow. Sara's right eyebrow shot up and stared questioningly at Judy.

"What is this? Who is this from?" She couldn't, for the life of her, think who would leave her a jewelry box.

Judy shook her head in response and said, "I ... we don't know. One of the lab technicians, Danny, found it just outside our lab and it had your name on it. Nobody knows where it came from..."

"That's odd. Who would leave a jewelry case just like that?" Sara asked Judy who continued to shake her head. By now, the look on Sara's face had brought Grissom to stand beside her.

"What is it?" He asked, walking to stand beside Sara as she shot him a confused look.

Sara hadn't thought of opening the case yet, but his question had her do it slowly. As soon as she opened the small case, she let out a surprised gasp at what she found inside.

Laid beautifully on the inside of the case was a white gold necklace which was even more accentuated by a pink tourmaline and diamond pendant. There was a card inside the case, Sara lifted it and saw what was written on it.

_Abraham Lincoln once said, "I will prepare and someday my chance will come."_

To say that Sara was shocked was putting it mildly. Her jaw literally dropped open and her eyes shot towards Grissom who stood frozen right beside her.

Grissom couldn't say anything. He was as shocked as she was and bells were ringing in his ears. Who had sent Sara these? He looked at Sara's expression and realized that she had gone three shades paler.

"Okay," Sara said in a breathless voice, "things have officially just become weird. I ... I don't know how to react to this."

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A/N : Yay, a not-so-late update on the fic! Heh. I hope this is better than the last chapter. :D


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